Praise and criticism for North West organisers
British Rally Championship manager Reece Tarren has praised the organisers of the North West Stages, the disrupted opening 2024 round, for salvaging the afternoon loop of stages after a troubled morning.
The first trio of stages were all halted due to incidents – most of them competitor-related – which put the rally almost two hours behind schedule. As a result, both SS4 and SS5 were cancelled, but all five of the afternoon’s stages were able to run, the organisers also halving the gaps between cars to 30 seconds to help.
Organisers did, however, come in for criticism when a statement on social media initially said that the morning loop had been “scrubbed”, leaving many to believe the rally would be restarting from zero. But a ‘statement of clarity’ was later issued outlining that notional times were handed to competitors who didn’t complete SS1-3.
Event director Mark Hothersall said: “I have read posts letting us know we could have communicated better. While I’m sure there are things we could do better, our primary focus was the management of a critical incident. I accept this must have been frustrating for marshals and spectators, particularly those who could not access the limited online information, and for that I apologise.”
Tarren praised the organisers for saving enough miles to ensure full points could be awarded. “Under enormous amounts of pressure, the organisers made the right call to ensure everyone was able to complete the afternoon loop to ensure they got enough miles under their belts – credit to them,” he said.
Rally winner Chris Ingram said “it would have been ridiculous if they’d cancelled those first stages”, and “justice prevailed” when the clarification was issued.